Recorder for systems of electrical distribution.



H. S. SlNES.

RECORDER FOR SYSTEMS OF ELECTRICAL DISTBlBUTION.

APPLICATION FILED DEC-3|. I915.

Patented Jan. 30,1917.

4 SHEETS SHEET] H. S. SINES.

RECORDER FOR SYSTEMS OF ELECTRICAL DISTRIBUTION.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 31,1915.

Jill/672607": 7 0%. 207265 6 4 SHEETS-SHEET Patented J an. 30, 1917.

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H. S. SINES. RECORDER FOR SYSTEMS OF ELECTRICAL DISTRIBUTION.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. HI, I9I5. 1,213,963. Patented Jan 30, 1917.

4 SHEETS-*SHEET 3- H. S. SINES.

RECORDER FOR SYSTEMS OF ELECTRICAL DISTRIBUTION APPLICATION FILED DEC. 3I. I9I5. 1,213,963. Patented Jan. 30, 1917.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4,

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HAROLD S. SINES, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO MINERALLAC ELECTRIC COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented J an. 30, 1917.

Application filed December 31, 1915. Serial No. 69,598.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, HAROLD S. SINES, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Recorders for Systems of Electrical Distribution, of which the following is a full, clear, concise, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification.

My invention relates to an improved recorder for use in association with systems of electrical distribution, and more specifically my invention contemplates the provision of means associated with and either directly or indirectly controlled from an electric circuit adapted each time a certain extraordinary condition exists in the circuit to make a record thereof as well as to record the duration of the time inter all during which said extraordinary condition exists.

Central station companies have in the past experienced considerable dillieulty with certain classes of consumers the particular requirements of whose business requires that their supply of electrical energy be continuone and at a constant rate at all times, or do certain periods of the day. For instance I will cite the cases of consumers who utilize the electrical energ i furnished them to operate ice making machinery, coffee roasting machinery, etc. In such cases it is necessary that the consumers supply of electrical energy be available at all times during which any run of ice is undergoing the process of artificial freezing, or a quantity of colfee is undergoing the roasting operation. In such. cases if the supply of energy be cut elf due to some fault on the part of the central station company, or otherwise, the particular material undergoing tr atmentis liable to be seriously damaged or ruined, and the consumer who has suffered damage due to the cessation of his supply of electrical energy often looks to the central station company to make compensation for the damage sustained by the consumer due to the cutting elf of his electrical energy supply as aforesaid.

This invention, as will more fully hereinafter appea provides means whereby the central station company may have available records of all so-called outages and thus be able to determine the justice of claims thus cut off.

In the accompanying drawings illustrating my invention, Figure l is a front elevational view of the recording mechanism and parts associated therewith; Fig. 2 is a view partly in section and partly in elevation taken on. the line 22 of Fig. 1 and looking in the direction indicated by the arrow; Fig. 3 is a fragmentary elevational view similar to Fig. 1, but showing certain of the operating parts in changed position; Fig. 4 is a fragmentary view partly in section and partly in elevation illustrating certain structural details not fully shown in the preceding figures; Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 1 and looking in the direction indicated by the ar rows, this view showingin particular the printing hands operated by the chronometer mechanism; Fig. 6 is an isolated detail View of the contact mechanism associated with the recording mechanism of Figs. 1 to 5 inclusive; Fig. 7 diagrammatically illustrates the relative positions assumed by the chronometer printing hands and the record sheet; Fig. 8 is a view .imilar to Fig. 7, but showing the record sheet as having had one read ing lIllPl'OSSCCl thereon and the several parts in condition for taking another reading; F 9 is a view of the record sheet after it has been r moved from the recording mechanism; Fig. 10 is a view of a transparent sheet provided with marking corresponding to the dial of a clock which may be placed over the impressions made upon the record sheet in order to ascertain just what time into val elapsed between successive records upon the record sheet. Fig. 11 is a diagrammatic representation of the several circuit connections which may be employed, this view also illustrating diagrammatically the means through which the circuit with which the recording mechanism is associated determines and controls the operation of the recording mechanism; and Fig. 12 illustrates a somewhat niodif ed circuit arrangement.

Similar characters of reference refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

Referring first to Figs. 1 to 5, inclusive,

001d mechanism embodying my innounted upon a suitable base at 20, this base being conveniently arranged to be secured. upon a wall or other support and provided with a marinal flange arranged to cooperate with a h cover in order to protect the operatarts supported by the base. The cover retained in position by a y suitable ans which need not be dedetail. lilounted in suitable eta r..-i.i3 carried by the base it) is a clumunueter himsiug ln so liar as the present invention is concerned the detailed on ictinn oi the (flock mechanism is not inatr-uial, but will j] tha; the chrononn eler mechanism is conveniently ol the selfuiuding' type. [rt l have illustrated a small sized electric motor the shaft of which is provided with a worm 24h co"perating with a worm gear :26 fixed upon the upper end of a vertical shaft 2? the lower end of which is provided with teeth cooperating with spur gear 28 mounted upon a shaft extending" into the chronometer housing 23. it will s llice to say that whenever the driving spring of the chronometer mechanism has run down sutliciently to make rewinding necessary the circuit of the motor 2&- is closed in any suitable manner, whereupon the motor operates through the connections just described to effect the rewinding operation the circuit for the motor being opened aft-er the rcwinding has been completed. These features of clock construction are old and for the purpose of clearness have omitted a detailed showing of the chronomcter mechanism.

Referring more particularly to 5 it will be seen that the chronometer mechanism drives two shafts upon which are mounted printing hands 29 and 30. The printing hands 29 and 80 correspond to the second and minute hands of a clock but are operated in contra-clockwise direction. I wi h it to be understood at this point that .e l have illustrated but two printing hands, that is, a second hand and minute hainh l contennalate providing hour hand it such a hand is desirable in order to meet th "requirements of any particular case.

ii in 1 iii m an.

L1 The j n which makes one co1nplate minute comprises an 'n surface and an arrow point hereinafter appear. The printing which makes one revolution per correspones to the printing hand 29 one that it is conveniently provided with some means to distinguish it from the hand :59 whicln in the present instance, is an arrow shaft locatec diametrically opposit the arrow point. As is perhaps most clearly illustrated in Fig. the base 20 supports a post 31 upon which is mounted a spool 32 having a suitablv inked tape 83 wound thereon. 'l he spool 32, which is the supply spooh is normally trictionally held against movement by the helical spring E l disposed around the supporting post 31. From the y spud 32 the inked tape 33 passes, to-- i l 1 5 record, sheet or tape n ne -i to the spool '13? is a spur gea r 3*.) the function oi whirl will pz ly be made apparent. The record sheet Elli is mirried by a supply spool or roller -10 mounted upon a post ll carried by the base 20, the record ieet supply roller eO being normally fric- 'ionally held against n'iovement by the heliil spring 4:2 disposed around the post tl. cm the supply spool 40 the record slice passes around the pins 3t' -36, as has n previously described, and over the driven spool e2 mounted for operation upon a jost carried by the base 90, as is most ccarly illustrated in Fig. 2. The driven spool carries spur gear 41 lmeshing h the spur gear 39 ot' the inked tape receiving spool 37. By virtue of the geared connection between the spools 37 and 42 the inked tape is advanced when the record s rest is advanced. In addition. to the spur the spool has fixer thereto a rat, wheel do with which cooperates a retaining pawl t6 mounted upon a post 47 rcciving spools for the record sheet and nlred 'hipe will be described in connection with the mechanism which serves to etlect the printing operation.

[it e9 l have illustrated a platen disposed beneath the printing hands 29 and fl 3t and arranged when operated to more the record sheet and inked tape toward and into on gagement with the printing surfaces o'l? ti o hands 29 and 3t) and thus impress upon the sheet 35 a record of the positions ot the printing hands 29 and 30. This platen 4-9 is preferably operated by electromagnetic mechanism which in the present embodiment of my invention is a solenoid having the plunger 51 upon which the platen at) is mounted. Extending at right angles from the upper end of the solenoid plunger 51 is a pin 52 the free end of which engages in a longitudinal. slot formed in a plate 53 carried by the base 20, as is most clearly illustrated in Fig. A helical spring 54; acting between the pin 52 and the post carried by the base normally retains the solenoid plunger and platen in retracted position. The pin 52 previously referred to extends through an elongated slot formed in the end of: a sliding bar 56, as is, perhaps, most clearly illustrated in Figs. 1, 3, and 4c. This bar 56 is provided with elongated slots 56 and 56 most clearly illustrated in Figs. 1 and 3. A screw 57 extends through the slot 56 in the be 56, the said screw 57 engaging in the end of a post carried by the base 20. A similar screw 58 extends through the slot 56 of the bar 56, the screw :38 engaging a suitable post carried by the base ill and which post in this instance happens to be the post 4:7 which supports the retaining pawl 46. :Pivoted to the sliding bar 56 is a pawl 59 which has associated therewith a suitable spring normally tending to move the pawl into engagement with the teeth of the ratchet 45. From the construction just described it will be seen that when the platen 49 is advanced the bar 56 is also operated due to the pin and slot connection between the bar 5 and the solenoid plunger. lVhen the bar 56 is thus operated the retaining pawl 46 maintains the ratchet 4:5 in position, the operating pawl 59 slipping over the next teeth of the ratchet and being thus in position to advance the ratchet wheel and parts connected therewith one step when the solenoid plunger is returned to normal posi tion under the action of its spring Fixed upon the base 20 is an insula ing block 60 which carries two pairs of contact springs illustrated at 61 and 62, one contact spring of each pair riding upon the periphery of a ratchet wheel (38, which ratchet wheel is fixed upon a shaft 6% suitably mounted in bearings provided by the base 20. Also fixed upon the shaft 64 is a ratchet wheel 65 provided with a suitable retaining spring 66, as illustrated most clearly in Fig. 3. The ratchet 65 is arranged to be advanced one step for each actuation of the solenoid plunger by virtue of a. pawl 67 pivoted to the lower end of the sliding ar 56, the said pawl 67 having associated therewith a spring 68 which retains the pawl. in engagement with the teeth of the ratchet 65.

I will not at this point describe the several circuit connections and it will suflice to say that each time the circuit for the solenoid 50 is rendered effective it is closed through whichever pair of the contact springs 61 and 62 happen to be in engagement with each other. It will thus be seen that the circuit for the solenoid is opened immediately after the solenoid has operated due to the advancement of the ratchet controlling the posi tion of the contact springs (31 and 62.

In Fig. 11 I have illustrated at A and B conductors through which ,electrical energy is supplied. to a eonsinner by a central station company It will be noted that included in series with the conductor A is an elec tro-niagneticall ope 'ated device which I have diagramniatically illustrated as a plunger (37 which is moved against the action of a spring when a current isl'lowing through the circuit comprising the conductors A and B. The plunger (37 carries a. pair of pawls 32) and 70 riding upon the periphery of a ratchet wheel 71 which has lined with respect thereto a ratchet 72 of insulating ma.- terial which determines the position of two pairs oi contact springs 73 and 'T-l. it will be noted that the relation of the ratchet wheel 72 to the contacts 73 and 7-lis such that for an position of the ratchet wheel one pair of the contact springs is opened and the other pair closed. In Fig. 11 I have applied the same l'CitGl'GllCU characters in the other figures to the several parts of the recording apparatus heretofore described and I believe it will be apparent that, assuming the parts to be in the positions illustrated in Fig. 11. if the flow of current through the circuit comprising the conductors A and B ceases and. the plunger 67 be pern'iitted to move to the right under the action of its associated spring (38 the engagement of the contact springs 78 will be effected and the contact springs 7% will be disengaged one vtrom the other. lVhen the engagement of the contact springs '73 is thus etlected the circuit for the solenoid 50 is closed through contacts 73 and contacts 61. lnnnediately upon the operation of the solenoid the contact springs 61 are disengaged and the solenoid plunger returns to normal position after having effected the printing operati on and advances the record sheet and associated parts in the manner previously described. It now current again flows through the circuit comprising the conductors A and B the plunger 67 is moved against the tension of its associated spring 68 and the ratchet controlling mechanism for the contact springs 73 and 74. operates to dis-engage the contact springs 73 and effeet the engagement of the contacts 74 thus again closing the circui for the solenoid 50, but this time through the contact sp ing 62 associated with the recording mechanism. Immediately upon operation of the solenoid 50 the contact springs are opened and the circuit for the solenoid 50 is rendered inoperative until the ratchet 72 controlled by the current traversing the circuit comprising the conductors A. and B operated to again eti'ect the engagement of the contact springs l have illustrated at C in Fig. 11 a switch controlling the circuit for the rewinding motor and it will be understood that this switci is closed whenever it necessary that the driving spring for the chronomcter mechanism be rewound.

in Fig. :l have illustrated an ar angemcnt similar to that of Fig. 11, the only di lerence between the two showings being that in Fig. the winding which determines the pos ion of the plunger 67 is connected acro the cond ictors A and B rather the cs with one of said conductors, In other words,

ill S as is case in 11.

will be seen that in Fig. 1.1 the winding which d etormin es the position of the plunger .irrent coil whereas in the showing 2 it is a potential coil. fi ing now to 7 it will be 'ccord sheet is located in immeprinting hands 29 S the printing hands are shown as having been utilized to make one iunu'cssion u pen the record sheet and as in position to make another record. Fig. 9 shows the record sheet after two impressions h ave been taken and the duration of the time interval which existed between the taking of the two records is to be ascertained. In determining the duration of the time interval during which the outage existed the trans parent sheet D, shown in Fig. 1G, is placed over one set cit records and then over the other to ascertain the exact positions of the arrows nrmted 11 3011 the record sheet. I

will. say that the reading of the records upon the sheet, shown in 9, indicates that the outage interval was of fifteen minutes and ten seconds duration. lt will be understood that outages of greater duration than one hour are not apt to occur without the knowledge of the central station company and that, therefore, in most cases it is not necessary to provide a recording device capable of recording outages of greater duration than one hour.

From the foregoing description it will. be seen that l have provided means controlled by the current traversing a consumers supply circuit adapted to record when outages in the consumers current supply have occurred and also the length of the periods of time during which said outages existed. From the record thus made available the central station company is enabled to determine the justice of all claims made by consumers due to cessation, or alleged cessation. in their supply of electrical energy.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secur by Letters Patent of the United States is:

er-anus 1. In a system of electrical distribution the combination with a circuit through which electrical energy is supplied, together with means controlled by the energy traversing saidcircuit, operating both when the electrical energy supply to said circuit is cut off and when the energy supply is reestablished, to record cessations in the supply of electrical energy and the duration of such cessations.

2. in a system of electrical distribution, the combination with a circuit through which electrical energy is supplied of a chronometer mechanism, printing hands operated by said chronom-eter mechanism, mechanism for carrying a record sheet in proximity to said printing hands, a platen arranged when operated to move the record sheet toward the hands to effect a record, electromagnetic mechanism for actuating the platen, a circuit for said electro-magnetic mechanism, and switching means controlled by the electrical energy traversing said first mentioned circuit arranged to cause the operation of the clectrouuagnetic mechanism each time the supply of electrical energy to said first mentioned circuit ceases and when the supply of electrical energy to said. circuit is reestablisbed.

l n a system of electrical. distribution the combination with a circuit through which electrical energy is supplied, a chronometer mechanism, printing hands operated by the chronometer mechanism, mechanism for carrying a record sheet in proximity to said printing hands, a platen arranged when operated to move the record sheet toward the hands to effect a record, electro-magnetic mechanism for actuating the platen, switching mechanism controlling the operation of said electro-magnetic mechanism, and means controlled by the energy traversing the circuit aioresaid, arranged and adapted to cause the operation of the switching meclu nism and thus the operation of the electromagnetic mechanism and platen each time the supply of electrical energy to said circuit ceases and also each time the supply of electrical energy to said circuit is reestablished.

4.. In a system or. the class described, the combination with a circuit through which electrical energy is supplied, a time-keeping mechanism and means controlled by the current traversing said circuit cooperating with the time-keeping mechanism to. make a record or"? the times when the energy supply to said circuit is out off and recstablished, whereby the duration of the outage intervals may be ascertained.

5. In a system of electrical distribution, a circuit through which electrical energy is supplied, a time-keeping mechanism, printing hands operated thereby, means for carrying a record sheet in proximity to said printing hands, and mechanism controlled by the energy traversing said circuit arranged to cause a record of the position of the printing hands to be impressed upon the record sheet when the normal energy supply to said circuit is cut OH and reestablished, whereby the duration of the outage intervals may be ascertained.

6. In a system of electrical distribution the combination with a circuit through Which electrical energy is supplied, of means con- Copics of thin patent may be obtained for five cents each,

trolled from said circuit arranged and adapted to record cessations in the supply of electrical energy and duration of such cessation. In Witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name this 27th day of December 1915.

II. S. SINES.

Witnesses:

R. B. MAG DONALD S. S. COLE.

by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. O. 

